Productivity Commission report a wake-up call

"Staff training and development is often left behind, but it must be a feature of all planning for the future to ensure continual improvement"

Richard Wagstaff.

Public service chief executives need to get serious about learning the lessons from their own successes and failures, said the Public Service Association. This need has been shown in the report into regulatory institutions and practices, released today by the New Zealand Productivity Commission.

“The public sector should be seeking to continuously improve practices, but we know the opportunities for this are often missed,” said Richard Wagstaff, PSA National Secretary. "The Productivity Commissions' report notes that 83% of central government regulatory workers said in a survey that they did not agree that their organisation was good at learning from mistakes and successes. "Our members have been continually frustrated when, rather than listen to the experts with direct experience of the jobs, state sector organisations bring in external consultants review processes.

"If New Zealand's public service is to keep delivering, it needs to ensure it is listening to the messages front-line staff are learning. “Staff training and development is often left behind, but it must be a feature of all planning for the future to ensure continual improvement,” said Richard Wagstaff.